'C!RCA' is a new kind of circus

'C!RCA' is part of the Great Performances at Vanderbilt series.

No elephants. No clowns. But spectacle all the same. Circa, a contemporary circus company from Brisbane, Australia, brings a blend of movement, sound, skill, acrobatics and light to Vanderbilt University's Student Life Center, 310 25th Ave. S., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. As part of the acclaimed Great Performances at Vanderbilt series, the company presents "C!RCA," a seven-performer remix of several of the group's most acclaimed works. The idea is to create circus that "moves the heart, mind and soul." The piece, which premiered in 2009, has toured Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Buenos Aires, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Italy.

As for the Nashville show, tickets are $30-$40 ($3 discount for seniors age 60 and older); $17.50 for Vanderbilt faculty and staff; and $5 for Vanderbilt students through Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or 615-322-4230. (All other students with valid ID can purchase $10 tickets in person.) Reviewers have deemed the strength, agility and acrobatics of the troupe as breathtaking, funny, sexy, beautiful, seamless and explosive, with elements of burlesque and cabaret woven in. "These are superhuman acrobats masquerading as mere mortals," one reviewer wrote in The Stage, based in London. "They raise the bar of what is possible?." Details: www.circa.org.au.